From Willow to Oak
by Nuclear Burp
Summary: A simple mission goes terribly wrong after a once-forgotten village begins to make its presence known. Naruto now has to deal with a people who want him alive, and are willing to destroy everything potentially harmful to him, including his friends. ADOPT
1. Prologue

_**Scroll of 'The Hidden People', dated three years after the formation of Konohagakure**_

**_-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/_**

_In the day of clan wars and strife,_

_One hidden village burst to life._

_A village hidden by divine boon,_

_Sheltered both by sun and moon._

_This place was sanct from noble gees,_

_Underneath the living trees,_

_And so the people built a home_

_That forfeited use of any stone._

_They sung the wood to rise a hearth,_

_They sung the branch to weave a birth_

_Of living timber supple more,_

_To craft the walls, the roof, the floor._

_While the war outside had travelled far,_

_Twixt Senju clan and Uchiha,_

_The village was more than five-score old,_

_And that is when this tale was told._

_Intruders chanced on their land,_

_Guided by the Byakugan's hand,_

_But the way was found when paths arose,_

_Found by the knowing Inuzuka nose._

_The peace of the village of moon and sun,_

_Fell away, when scarce it had begun._

_The peaceful folk, unarmed that day,_

_Turned to their gods, knelt down to pray._

_What the Goddess' said, is yet unknown,_

_But a madness rose in the people's bone,_

_They carved themselves with sigils strange,_

_And turned into beasts deranged._

_On their bodies the tattoos were well emplaced,_

_And unbeknownst, the foe now faced_

_A people with ink-made flowers,_

_Trapping angels, spirits and evil powers._

_They looked into the black-filled eyes,_

_And found they were most despised_

_For rather than a fearful reception,_

_They were struck with a deadly rejection._

_The irony, it must be said,_

_Was that the intruders wanted no man dead,_

_They wished to barter with the village mass,_

_To allow them suffrage of trespass. _

_But before they could plead no guilt,_

_A thousand rivers of blood were spilt._

_Monsters made of light and shade_

_Cut all to death by unseen blade,_

_They rose from the marks the people grew,_

_By their word, they strike and hue._

_One man left to tell of the blood and water,_

_That washed the ground aft the slaughter._

_And I write this now, with yet no fear,_

_For something wrong has happened here._

_The chief of Senju made a pact,_

_With the prominence of noble tact,_

_To the people of the hidden village_

_To stay their hands from rape and pillage._

_The people understood only power,_

_So he sent a bijuu to then devour_

_The matriarch by the moon-made hand,_

_The horror of the people spanned_

_From tree to tree, stem to stem,_

_Their madness halted there and then._

_He bade them retreat to the hidden trees,_

_And placed on them a mighty gees,_

_To answer the call of Fire country_

_And those of Senju Ancestry._

_Otherwise, they were free to live,_

_In the treetops they were free to give_

_The new matriarch a stronger clan,_

_And choose a Line from a Hyuuga man._

_The Eyes did not carry true, _

_But at times the whitened hue_

_Will come to life when fiends arise_

_From the lines they carve over their eyes._

_The parenthesis' in their orbs unreal _

_Is multiplied of their numbered seals._

_So Hokage, heed my fear and resist._

_To the borders of Earth and Rain desist._

_There is a darkness there that you will hate,_

_Though none have gone there of late._

_You will know when the mist is at its yoke,_

_They will appear like a nightmare, vanish like smoke._

_The service they give is cruel and depraved,_

_For to the demons forever they are enslaved._

_But yet, their power is second to none,_

_There is only one foe they haven't won,_

_Against the mighty demon vessels they_

_Will stop and stall and shrink away._

_I do not know why they hate them so,_

_It is like the ice that despises snow._

_One thing they hate to each a man,_

_Is the dog-aligned Inuzuka clan._

_Without their noses, to this day,_

_The people would never have given away_

_Their humanity for their paranoia,_

_The soul of a child for that of a destroyer._

_So sent one not to e'er parley,_

_For you will ne'er see him since that day._

_Call them when you are in need,_

_But they are a chaotic weapon indeed._

_So Hokage, when the times are grim,_

_Invoke your title and summon him,_

_The soul of the man who made the bond,_

_To permate the swamps and trees and fronds_

_And talk to the living god_

_Hiding in the peat and sod._

_She will tell you how to find_

_The village of the out-of-mind._

_And when you know what 'tis you boon,_

_Be you off to the hidden moon._

_This is the tale of the Otsuki,_

_The folk of sun and moon and tree,_

_Who dwell in Sakitsuchi,_

_And the foemen of Bijuu be._

**-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-**

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_There's the introduction. The rest ofthe chapters will be a highly extended version of 'Collection' from Blanks, Dots and Spirals. Till next time!_


	2. From his beginning

This story begins as a few others do, with a series of massive explosions.

The first, not surprisingly for the neighbors, came from the apartment building of one Uzumaki Naruto. Having the foresight to leave the gas on in anticipation for cooking that night's dinner did not coincide with having candles lit on the table for light. This was definitely not one of the good times for the lightbulbs to have blown, especially in the evening when the first nightbirds were beginning to fly through the contours of dusk. Their squawks of terror mimicked the humans below; although the human's cries turned to ones of disgust once they realized what the birds had expelled from their bodies in their haste to leave.

The resulting force of the 'burp' pushed the screaming Jinchuriki through the roof, leaving behind him a faint trail of wreckage and burning shrapnel from what remained of his grimy abode. As he reached the arc of his flight -surmising that the massive drop might result in the village he loved having a future Hokage dubbed 'Omelet face'- his hands took action. A familiar seal was formed, a simple plan was worked out, and the words _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_ Escaped from singed lips.

It would have quite disheartening for a normal person to switch from two aspects of reality so quickly, from celebrating one's nineteenth Birthday alone (With one teammate out on a mission since that morning, one without a care for such niceties, and two teachers running damage control after a recent Sound attack, this was reasonable enough.) to flying through the air and making a cushion out of clones, but this particular blond was quite hard to discourage.

In fact, he was famous for it.

This does not lead us to the next explosion, but the immense pounding in Tsunade's head overrides the current story narrative. It was a hangover that killed one's will to live, or at least without the barriers of Time, a hearty breakfast and an unbelievable amount of luck.

_Unfortunately…_ The Hokage mused, sitting at her desk and watching the world through her window through teary eyes _… I've had none of the former, nothing on the middle and I'm notorious for lacking the latter… Urghhhhhhhh… Go away go away goawaygoaway!!_

It had begun with a small celebration with the Nara boy upon his making Jounin. It had continued with Sakura fixing a massive dinner (Inedible), Shino making jokes (Incomprehensible), Ino encouraging Sai to try out a 'Sake funnel' (Inebriated… eventually) and Kiba fighting with the Brat over who got the last piece of pizza (Indigestion). When it came to the 'In' crowd, you didn't have to look further than the Rookie Nine (Insane, every one of them).

With a brief flash of amusement before the headache destroyed her joy, Tsunade remembered how the party had ended.

Shino was embedded halfway through the hallway wall, snoring loudly. Hinata and Neji had decided on practicing unconscious chakra control by sleeping on the ceiling, which led to Chouji and Kiba shooting spitballs at the Branch member as he slumbered gently on. Sai had passed out on the couch, vomiting as the spirits in his drink caught up with him and splattering the carpet. Ino and Sakura had ended up aiming to give the birthday boy a kiss for good luck at the same time, but as the Genius leaned back to grab another drink, they missed and ended up liplocking each other.

It made quite an epic scene, with Shikamaru looking forward again and going bug-eyed as his best (Female) friend and closest associate hooked up a metre over his crotch. The room went deadly quiet for a second as the two continued to twist and turn in their hurry to give the Nara a nice present.

Eventually, Ino spoke up from within the wet kiss.

"You know, Shika-kun, you have really girlie lips."

Then was the time for Sakura's eyes to slam open, and for her mouth to scream a moment later. The shock caused Neji to fall from the ceiling onto Kiba, who pushed him off and continued to tape the show. Ino followed suit with the screaming, and for some bizarre reason, Lee decided to join in.

"AAAAAAAHHH!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOWAH!!!"

All parties ran out of breath, and Lee took the opportunity while the two Kunoichi were washing out their mouths to explain an idea to his rival.

"Neji! Neji! Such a movement of youthful bonding twixt the same gender! Let us consummate our friendship and scream our brotherly love towards the stars!" The Green Beast cried from another couch, his eyes brimming with tears and his hand crushing a can of orange juice.

It was Neji's turn to be sick, but nobody expected the Hyuuga to be able to gag, cover his mouth, kick off his sleeping bag and run towards the window to projectile vomit at least ten feet outside.

"Whoa."

Tenten stirred from the T.V (She hadn't been paying attention to the commotion at all) with a happy look on her face. "Lee? Neji? Love? My prayers have been answered!!" She cried happily, hugging another Hinata on the couch. Moments later the Hinata on the roof burst into a puff of smoke.

("Just because Neji says so doesn't mean you have to sleep on a boring ol' roof" she said earlier to his impressionable little cousin)

In the middle of this, Tsunade laughed and laughed and drunk even more Sake.

The night would not end well, but at least she had her booze.

_At least…_ Tsunade shook herself back into the present _… that's what I thought until my hangover remedies turned out to be empty. Little bastard apprentice took them all so's she could take a mission to go see her boy-toy in Suna… bah!_

Shuddering, she looked at a piece of hellish and evil paperwork, trying to force her eyes to focus over the small print.

'-in the circumstances, it was deemed advisable to increase the price of cabbage by a value of twelve over five, judging from the current elasticity of demand-'

She groaned, thinking it prudent to call the entire day off. She couldn't honestly be expected work in this condition.

'-itshitshitshitshitshitshitshit-!'

At the very least, she was hallucinating. Only a few seconds ago she thought she'd heard a loud bang and screams, but a glance outside showed only Naruto practicing his sage jumps in midair. Now she was hearing voices! What next?

'-notthetowergranny'sgonnakillmenotthetowershitshitshit-!!'

_Wait, Sage jumps?_

'OHSHI-!'

Tsunade looked up to catch a globe of Narutos smash into her window with a continuous crashing noise of broken glass. Smoke filled the air as the clones took the brunt of the impact and burst into nothing, while the original prankster rolled over the floor, _through_ her desk (Tsunade had jumped aside, wincing at the noise) and ended up piled against the door. Shizune kicked it open, the hinges popping and flying out as the portal slammed down onto the lump of the Kyuubi-boy.

"Tsunade-sama!" The assistant called out, whipping out a pair of senbon dripping with a clear venom and scanning for the assailants.

"I'm fine… I'm fine…" The Sannin coughed, using a chakra filter to clean the zone of airborne microscopic particles. She pointed at the door that Shizune was standing on, "I think our little troublemaker needs you to stop cutting off his oxygen."

"Is it Naruto _again?_" Shizune sighed as she got off, letting the young man crawl and wheeze and grin from under the slab of wood. "Honestly, that's the third time this _month_!"

"Not my fault my technique didn't work…" Naruto grumbled as he got to his feet, dusting himself off, "Stupid landlord doesn't treat his wood, so of course the trees are going to grow too fast…" He found a hand over his mouth before he could continue, and heard Shizune sigh.

"Naruto Naruto Naruto… I'm beginning to think you're doing this on purpose. Ne, Shishou?" She turned to her teacher, who smirked and winced again at the movement. The apprentice medic shook her head.

"And what have we learned from this?" She asked the room.

"Don't leave the gas light on when I'm using candles…"

"Always check my remedy supplies…"

"And Ayame makes fun at me for not wanting kids." Shizune chuckled, imagining that both the strongest Ninja in the village and the boy with the most potential anyone had ever seen were her disobedient, silly children.

"Shut up." Tsunade groaned, "Brat, you're paying for the window."

"WHAAAA-?!" Naruto began to whine, but the I'm-hungover-as-hell-and-will-pull-that-necklace-of-mine-and-rip-your-head-clean-off-if-you-don't-speak-softer look on his leader's face gave him room for vocal modesty. "Uh, I mean, I don't have any money at the moment." He muttered, defeated by a set of bloodshot eyes.

"Isn't that convenient? I'm currently looking for somebody to go on a long, boring mission to go and increase my supplies of willow extract. It's a thankless task, and the amount I'm willing to pay is… oh… a window."

As she finished her sentence, another piece of glass shattered and fell inside the room. Naruto grinned at the look on his boss's face.

"I'm not paying for that one, Granny."

_That's it!!_

The third explosion of the day came from an enraged Hokage fist punching a irritating little bastard clean across the village, causing a few children to jump up and down with the appearance of a shooting star in the afternoon.

--

Another explosion sounded from the Nara Bathroom, where a grumpy digestive system was dealing with the toxic waste that Sakura believed was fit to feed to a group of party goers. In between the grunts, drawn out 'Graaaaaagh's and occasional 'Troubles-argh!', Shikamaru cursed the existence of a Pink-haired Chunin.

The fourth explosion has nothing to do with the plot or the story, but it may have done. It just goes to show how a plate of improperly cooked meat can change the world.

--

The fifth explosion occurred a far way away, between the borders of Rain and Stone, where a lithe figure bounded across tree branches jutting out of the swampy mire. Fog blurred the movements, but it did not conceal the extra shadows that leaped out to snag overhanging undergrowth in its smooth journey. It blurred as it passed, leaving only a waft of vapor to follow its slipstream.

From the place where it had come, there was another series of explosions, seen through the mist only by the light orange blooms from the detonation. There were angry shouts, punctuated by an angry outburst that left something gurgling its life away, out of sight.

Finally, a voice.

_Bring your brother back to me, dead or alive. And inform their leader, I doubt they will be pleased to find their precious Bijuu hunted like an animal._

There was another set of mumbling.

_Yes, I know that's what they are, but we're not here to convince them. So, are you willing, little princess?_

A tiny voice, humble in its servitude to the stronger voice, mumbled assent.

_Go. Go now, and bring our fury with you._

There was a sense of movement, and a blinding white light. The swamp was silent once more.

--

These five explosions would change the world forever.

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_Reviews, suggestions, critisisms... all welcome._


	3. And from hers

_Oookay, twenty combined favs and alerts and four reviews. If you like it, kindly drop a review. Good feedback encourages my to type faster, either because of high esteem or to better improve my writing while the ideas are fresh in my head.

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_Tik tik tik tik tik…_

The tiny hammer and chisel worked around the rough marble, flecks of rock hanging and falling with the smallest of sounds. The grey surface of the stone was rough and coarse, shining here and there as the sculptor's sweat beaded and fell onto the work in progress. Her tongue stuck out from between her teeth, forehead clenched in concentration as she tried to decide the next angle.

_Tik… tik tik…_

Her latest work was nothing special, or so she felt. She had taken up the hobby originally to enhance her chakra extension, but the calming beat of the chisel had taken to her well. From the age of nine, she had experimented with different types of silicate, hoping to master the impossibly unworkable granite by her second decade.

_Tik tik tik tik tik…_

Another splash sounded through her private quarters, a new sheen of sweat covered a different side of the work. She focused on carving a series of layers onto the longest part of the stonework, attempting to get a semblance of realism for the foot-long figure. A smile creased the corners of her mouth and her pace slowed, refusing to hurry her work any further.

_Tik… toktoktik tik tik…_

As she grew older, she found her work had a fair bit of symbolism to it, to her life in general. Her 'Gallery' (A small shed that housed her better items) was slowly filling with her observations from her travels. Here and there, a person. An impressive Castle from Lightning country, five stories high and elaborate in its reduced scale. A fox. A raccoon. A tree. A mountain.

Her pride and joy, however, were the fifteen figures hidden away at the back of the room, hidden away from prying eyes. All people she knew, people who had shaped her, made her the woman she had become. She owed them enough to immortalize them in timeless stone. But her greatest work had yet to be completed, still covered in the corner of her private art room with a white sheet.

_Tik tik tik TIK…_

A piece chipped too deep, and a huff of disappointment came from the woman. She slid the chisel over to the other side of the indentation and began sloping it to better blend into the shape of the figurine, her eyes watching for any signs of uneven cuts in her soft strikes.

_Tik tik tik tiktiktiktiktiktiktik…_

Satisfied that the flaw would not show itself under casual scrutiny, the woman turned her white eyes to look over the rough stone. She looked from underneath the platform on which it rested to peek at the flank of the spiky creature.

"It even has Akamaru's belly." Came a soft, firm voice from the doorway. A pair of feet clad in house slippers slid softly across the wood and onto the spread sheet, minding the small pieces of rock that lay scattered around it.

"Ee. It will be the first present of its kind that I have ever given, it needs to be perfect." The quiet reply came haltingly as the Sculptor looked over the tail of the dog, checking to see that the tail-hair was realistic enough. "Kiba-kun's housewarming is only five days away, you know."

A gulp from the young newcomer made her turn her head, "Hanabi? Are you nervous?"

"Don't be stupid, sister." The Hyuuga sniffed indignantly, "It is nothing more than a select gathering. There will be little difficulty in infiltrating and assimilating with the guests. Furthermore…"

Hinata gave a happy little sigh as her sister continued to babble about the many, _many_ reasons why she could possibly not be nervous. It had been adorable the way Kiba could so easily push all the prodigy's buttons and start a fight out of thin air; especially since Hanabi could not stand to be teased or patronized in any fashion.

Her sister had begun earning herself a reputation for being a glutton for punishment from her arguments with him, using every ounce of spare time that she could to seek out and antagonize the Inuzuka man for an imagined slight or past insult. Such meetings would usually end with the destruction of the surroundings, but Hanabi always walked away with a triumphant flush on her face.

And now she wanted to crash the party…

"-if he hasn't asked me, it does not mean that he has given explicit orders to remove me from the grounds. Am I not a noble, sister? Do we not possess _Nobilis Obligee_? Is not my presence a required, no, a _demanded_ certainty amongst the trading clans?" Hanabi was running on full steam now, not paying attention to anything but her line of reasoning as Hinata whipped out a polishing wag and begun to smooth the fur of the marble dog.

"Perhaps he has complained of your continual attacks to his mother, and she has arranged to have you barred from entering?" Hinata mused, "Noble or not, Hanabi-chan, you must respect trespass, most definitely if ordered by a clan head."

Her sister stopped dead in her pacing, her eyes wide and disbelieving. "He wouldn't."

"Kiba-kun is very decisive, sister."

Hinata would not have picked up the hitch in Hanabi's breathing if she had not been listening for it. Glad that her smile could not be seen from the back of her head, Hinata rubbed a hind leg, getting the cloth into the tiny cracks that formed the hairy limb. Behind her, Hanabi redoubled her pacing and began to let her thoughts loose, her voice climbing in pitch as hysteria set in.

"I knew it! That mongrel boy cannot handle my repartee! Such a mutton-headed, dog-breathed, Pig-headed-"

"Kindhearted."

"-Kindhearted, Scruffy looking, Animal cuddling…" Hanabi blinked, wondering how her insults had slipped. She shook her head and continued on, "… Sewage guzzling, Loudmouthed, annoying-"

"Handsome."

"-Handsome, Teasing, distant, mysterious… _Hinata!!_" Hanabi whined as the Hyuuga heir began holding her sides to keep the giggles at bay. "That was unfair!"

"You really have no idea obvious you are, do you Hanabi?" Hinata's hands wiped away a few mirthful tears, "It's amazing how he hasn't caught on, the way you can never meet his eyes in the street."

Hanabi's mouth slammed into the floor, "I do NOT."

"Oh? Or how every time I see you going out for a 'debate', you always seem to have glossed your lips with honey? Or spent hours picking out the right outfit just to scream at him?" Hinata turned in her seat, still polishing as she watched her sibling fume at the ceiling.

"Shouting makes my lips crack. And Hyuuga have to look perfect whenever we leave the compound. Besides, you're one to talk, Miss 'Crushing on Mr Oblivious'." Hanabi sneered, but her expression softened when Hinata's face showed hurt at her words.

"Hanabi…"

"Sorry, sister. But, well…" Hanabi kicked at the floor, one of her hands gripping her other arm. "… I suppose it really is a little obvious, isn't it?"

Hinata tutted, leaving her polishing to walk in front of her full-grown relative (At Seventeen, Hanabi was easily her height, if not more.) to put a hand on her shoulder. "I think I'm honoured, to have you compare yourself and Kiba to me and Naruto-kun. I wish you happiness, no matter what father thinks."

Hanabi coloured under the implications of those simple words, "But sister, I don't know if he-"

"Just believe in him. All men come to their senses eventually." Hinata repeated the same advice that Kurenai had given her just after graduating her Chunin exam. "But I honestly think… in five days…"

"What? Is it about the party? You think I shouldn't go?" The younger Hyuuga looked unsure, but Hinata's thoughtful expression stayed the rest of her questions.

"No, you should go." Came the eventual reply, "It will be good for him to see you there, he has come to think of you as a…" She struggled to remember, "… 'an excuse to get away from his mother.'"

Hanabi blinked. "He wants a distraction, the _gall_ of the-"

"Hanabi." Hinata cut her sister off, "His mother has been badgering him to begin courting, and you are probably the only person there he can at least pretend to walk about with without angering some other man." She remembered the scandal last year when he attempted to talk Tenten into bed, only to find Lee not only an abysmal tolerance for alcohol, but also for 'Lecherous womanizers'.

Kiba had left with a fractured rib, Lee with stitches from the bite marks on his buttocks, and Tenten had laughed at the entire thing. At least cousin Neji hadn't been there, otherwise Kiba would have left in a matchbox.

"Ah."

Hanabi tried to run the situations through her head. "Even if it's only pretend…"

Her sentence was already finished. The words _there is still hope_ hung in the still air, waiting for confirmation. A nod was the answer she received, and one of her rare smiles graced the room.

"Can I give him your sculpture?"

Hinata allowed herself a single act of rebukement, lightly tapping her sibling on the head.

"Make one yourself, you mooch."

--

"Nara Shikamaru's dealing with an intense case of food poisoning, he can't make it." Shizune sat down next to Tsunade, holding a hand to the Sannin's forehead and dulling the pressure-nerves that fed the headache. A faint sigh of relief came from her lips when Tsunade gave a grateful nod, turning her attention towards the paper that outlined the instructions to obtain the Willow extract.

"That's a problem." She grunted, pointing at the layout of the small patch of forest reserved for the silver trees. "I was hoping that his Mass Shadowcopy jutsu could hitch up with the Kage Bunshin and perform the task in an hour. But now…" She groaned, frustrated at the Nin's poor health.

"I don't understand, Shishou. Can't we just heal him and send him on his way?"

"Food poisoning is one of the few ailments that cannot be stilled with medical jutsu." Tsunade muttered as she continued drawing up possible victims-… er, _recruits_, to partner with the young Uzumaki. "The cause is due to Bacteria outbreaks from the food, which host inside the food itself. Since the food is egestible material, we cannot actually force our chakra into the system of the other person and cure the problem."

She sighed, "Especially because egestiblematerial is not part of the person's body, unlike Urine or blood. So unless you can continuously kill the bacteria during the entire digestive cycle without draining yourself, I wouldn't advise trying."

Shizune was silent for a moment, "You could've just said 'I don't know'."

"Hmph. Now, for the purposes of the mission, we will need a suitable partner for Naruto. Take a look at these names, you're familiar with the list, right?" Tsunade handed the sheet of paper over to her assistant, ten lines of writing on the page.

"Kakashi's out. Yamato would object to damaging the trees. Neji is away on a mission with Sakura. Kiba and Akamaru would leave scratch marks, and they don't have enough Finesse. Tenten has her week booked for training, ditto Lee. Shino and Naruto don't get along well. Iruka is still prepping the Academy students for their exams." Shizune voiced her opinions quickly, "The only person who remotely fits the bill is Hinata."

"Mm. Able to see in all directions, taking extra training with the other teachers and her cousin. Discovered a talent for Earth jutsu, I hear; and her Genjutsu work with Kurenai and the Yamanaka girl has been rather formidable." The Hokage listed off, "I'm not saying she'd be perfect for the mission, hell, that's why I was banking on Shikamaru. But she's a damn sight better than the rest, and I can count on her not to let Naruto destroy the trees."

"So, shall I call her up?" Her assistant smiled; mischief plain in her eyes.

"Think she'll mind?"

"Once we get past the fainting spells, the stuttering, the 'Na-na-naruto-kun's… I think she'll be thrilled." Shizune penned the memo into her hand, making sure to drop by the Hyuuga estate on her way back home.

Tsunade grinned, and as her headache had slowed for the time being, withdrew a bottle of good Kirin Sake from her drawer with a couple of shot glasses. She poured a shot into both, cackling as Shizune laughed at the possible face the Heir would have.

"We're horrible, horrible people, right Shizune?" Tsunade toasted her with a sly wink, "Here's to horrible people, sending a young, innocent girl alone with a horny, handsome brat!"

"To evil done in the name of good!" Came the enthusiastic reply to the sounding of clinking glasses.

--

"Etchu!"

"Hinata-chan? Are you well?" A voice sounded across the field, a hazy green blur halted as a pair of bushy eyebrows settled into concern.

"I am fine, Lee. Thank you." Her voice made out the polite reply, but Hinata did not let him continue to believe that she was in need of rest. "It was only a little dust, let us continue."

After an hour of polishing the final product, Hinata had left to train with the Green beast of Konoha, under recommendation from cousin Neji. At first his speed had startled her, beaten her into the ground and left sizable bruises over her person, but after the second month of training, she had finally learned to anticipate.

The results were just starting to fruit. Before, she had to rely on her flexibility and instinct to avoid blows and turn weapons. Now, able to think ahead at least three seconds into the predicted future, Hinata could plan her rotations and maneuvers in her head. Many a time had Lee been struck down by a series of Kaiten rotations, but his friendly compliments only encouraged her to fight harder.

"Let us continue."

Settling back into her stance, Hinata watched her friend begin his assault. She had her dreams, and if strength was the way to attain them, then attain she would. As she ducked under a brutal kick, delivering an arc of chakra to swipe at his knees, she smiled.

Hyuuga Hinata was blooming, she could feel it.

--

_There was less mist, here. A ruined tower of faces, filled with bones and the spirits of the dead held one extra gargoyle this time round. It had been the work of the moment to steal a map, and the contents were now stored within the head of the shadow near the top._

_It leapt; a twisting sphere of inky air that only showed the outline of something humanoid, something that occasionally hinted of bleak-white eyes, hidden within a cloud of shade. Several of the inhabitants gave pursuit, believing it to be a foreign spy, but it had vanished as soon as it had been sighted._

_The local inquisitors had been scouting the area the thing had last been seen for the past three hours, when a white haze spun through the village streets in the direction it had taken. The chase began anew, but they lost the intruder once more._

_Through the evening, white chased dark through the forest, drawing ever closer to Konoha._

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_If you want to add this to a community, please do. Reviews are wanted, as are suggestions and critiques. The more of those I receive, the faster this updates.  
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	4. The conjoining begins

_Happy New Year!

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_

"Ow…"

A small pile of rubble shifted from the inside edge of the village wall, revealing an orange jumpsuit with blond hair and whiskers. Rubbing his aching head, Naruto stumbled upright and wobbled on his feet. Finally his head ceased to swim, and he began walking back home to inspect the damage and hoping that Iruka-sensei would let him crash for the night as his place like he usually did. Some sixth sense made him pause, some strange feeling of tiny movements, like a parade of ants across his entire body.

He felt something was out of place, but a quick scan of the surroundings proved there to be nothing suspicious. A young boy was playing with a black cat across the road that he'd been wandering down, ducking under the awning of a blacksmith's stall as his father called him inside. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something weird…

Shrugging, he headed back to the apartment block, scratching his hot necklace and cursing it for warming too hard in the sun.

He didn't notice that it had been overcast for the past hour, but Uzumaki Naruto was not one to think too hard on mitigating circumstances.

--

'_I do not understand.'_

_A woman older than most would ever believe stood in the hollowed trunk of a massive oak, praying near the crown. Around her, ghostly figures sat crosslegged, their mouths moving in a silent chant as she focused her will onto the necklace in front of her. The solemn, blue crystal dangled hopelessly between her fingers, the infinitely fine wooden chains wrapped around her palm._

'_The message is getting through, but the call to the artifact is not being heeded. After all these years, has it been lost… or forgotten?'_

_She looked up to the ancient living timbers above her, and sighed. Her attendants looked up, concerned as to the sorrows of their leader._

'_We have been gone too long, I fear.'_

'_Do the peoples of the outside no longer fear our shadow?' One asked from the sidelines, a young woman who reclined in the shadows of a knot in the oak._

'_I do not think that they are even aware of our existence.'_

_There were murmurs from the assembled members, some in disbelief, some composed of barely-suppressed outrage._

'_SILENCE!! Now, this is only to be accepted as the way things are. As they die so soon, we can deduce that the outside world either has not determined the art of inscribing minor kami under their skin, or they have declared it Kinjitsu. Either way, there will be no surviving witnesses to our rebirth, am I correct?'_

_The collected mumblings vaguely descended into voices of assent, and the leader nodded. The reclining woman voiced her own thoughts, however._

'_Matriarch, do not the outside peoples live long and arduously?'_

'_With regards to the first, most definitely not. With the second, who can tell?' The leader nodded, 'They live sixty years, at best. They are ninja, just as the rest of us, and fall to the Deathknife against each other with speed.'_

'_Only sixty years…' Breathed out one of the other females in the room._

'_Yes… now. How are we going to contact them? We have a renegade on the loose; it is both for their sake and ours that it be returned, yesnorightwrong?'_

_General assent was, once again, murmured, but no suggestions were made. The leader pulled a disappointed face as a young member gave an idea from the ring._

'_Can't we just, like, blow something up and code the explosions?'_

_Another faced the speaker, tired sisterly tones dripping from her tongue._

'_Honestly, is that all you care about, Ashiko? Blowin' crap up? Who the hell likes that stuff so much?'_

'_I do!'_

'_Actually, so do I.'_

'_I don't mind it.'_

'_BOOM!! Say goodbye to your head, wanker! I love it!!'_

'_More rubble, less trouble! More tags, less hags!!'_

'_WAAAAAAGH!! Ahahahahaha!! Dakka-dakka-dakka!!'_

_As the assembly hall dissolved into chaos, the leader groaned and looked again at the crystal in her palm._

'_No warnings… this will not end up well.'_

--

"Excuse me, is miss Hyuuga Hinata in a position to hold an audience?" Shizune politely deferred to the stern young man guarding the gate to the estate, his white eyes narrowing in suspicion as Shizune rubbed the back of her leg from an unsavory itch.

The guard looked down his nose at her, a twitch of his mouth turning the statuesque face into the tiniest hint of a sneer. "She is conversing with a guest, and is not to be disturbed." He shot back, before turning away to bar her way into the compound.

"I have a summons from the-" Shizune began, continuing even when the guard cut her off.

"She is not to be disturbed."

"-herself, and it is concerning of a task that cannot be entr-" She let her voice descend in volume a little, forming seals behind her back.

_Boar, Dog, Tiger, Ox, Dog…_

"For nothing, no matter the reason." The guard did not seem to care about the quick movements or the counterarguments that the Hokage's assistant was supplying. His smirk had yet to vanish, and it broadened further as Shizune's forehead beaded in sweat, mistaking it for frustration.

"- and as such, I am legally entitled to use creative force in order to-"

"If you do not comply, you will be barred from the premises permanently."

"- complete dickhead. _Karaton: Furuatama no jutsu!!_"

"No matter what you… whooooooooooooooooa…"

Shizune nodded to herself as the 'Dizzied head' technique worked the man's flesh full with narcotic substances, breathed out in minute traces from her continued blathering, congratulating herself on anticipating the snobby Hyuuga welcome. His hands whipped out into a basic Jyuken stance, only to have him look at them and exclaim with another 'Whoa'.

"My… my hands… whoa… whooooooa… they can touch everything but… themselves." He slowly made out, a small glob of drool forming at the corner of his mouth. As he put his fingertips together, he blinked. "Oh, wait…"

"Hyuuga Hinata." Shizune prompted, giggling to herself at the obviously stoned man. He lifted a foot from under his Hakama, toes pointing in the direction of the compound, not looking away from his fingers.

"She's in the back, making some kinda present…"

"Thank you for your kind guidance." Shizune bowed, half out of mockery and half from tradition. She walked down the empty front of the estate, only to have the man hail her from behind before she was more than a few feet in.

"OI!!"

Shizune froze, hoping like hell that he hadn't shaken it off so quick. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, do you know where I can get a Cheeseburger?"

She blinked. "What in the name of the Shichishito is that supposed to be?"

"Uh…."

With a thump, the guard fell face-first into the ground, no pathetic sagging at the knees, no flopping of elbows and arms, just a heavy smack that told of considerable ouchie factor from the cobbled entrance. Shizune winced, and remembered to not service any Hyuuga in the hospital for a while. She continued walking, asking directions from the odd started branch member, skirting the edge of the Main families house at their behest.

She navigated a tiny garden that looked like it was designed for edible flowers, germaniums and the odd rose peeking out from the green throng of vines and leaves. She heard a faint voice in gentle song as she neared the boundary of the fence, crossing into what looked like a bamboo grove with a tiny stream running through it.

_Just how big is this place?!_

She crossed over the running water with a quick hop, trying to make out the words to the song. It sounded young, the voice, and she needed more directions.

'…_Fearsome Dark turns to Hallowed Dawn…'_

The path was a thin layer of gravel winding through the bamboo, the sharp thin leaves tickled Shizune's face as she cursed once again for leaving Tonton behind. That pig would have been able to find her way through this; it wasn't as if the scent from the previous visitor wouldn't have been noted…

'…_Grim shadow turns to Coloured shade…'_

It was quite a somber song, Shizune noted as she took another turn in the maze. The low pitch, the feminine tang at the end, the long notes… it sounded like a tune of mourning. Or something akin to grief. Regret? Who knew.

'…_His voice still lingers in my heart…'_

There. Shizune definitely knew the song now. It was something often sung at funerals, usually by young widows when a Ninja spouse fell to the all-too-common fate of their trade. A tale of a woman who knew the end would come, and that no matter how hard she prepared, pain still clenched at the death, the loss. And that young, female voice had to be…

'…_A longing that for him was made...'_

"Hinata? Is that you?" Shizune called out, rewarded only with a tiny gasp and the sounds of rapid footsteps growing silent as the girl retreated.

As she waited, Shizune shook her head and muttered about how protocol could kiss it. Building chakra at her feet, She jumped as high as she could, trying to get a fix on the exit.

--

"Hinata! Hinata! Get Neji! Somebody snuck into the spring!" Hanabi burst into the sculpting room, breathing heavily. The elder Hyuuga looked up from her latest work and gave a calculating look towards her sister, before issuing her orders.

"Neji is away on a mission, Hanabi. You alert the others, I will deal with the intruder." She stood up, clicking out her shoulders from the cramped work, forming the ram seal in a swift, practiced movement, her sister following suit.

"Byakugan!"

The veins around the sister's eyes bulged as their systems compensated for the increased strain, Hinata's enhanced vision picking something moving skywards on the edge of her field.

"I see it. Do not disturb the others, Imoto, I will handle this myself." Hinata's clear voice ordered, a far cry from the stutter of her early years, born out of a tempered ferocity that had earned her survival in many, many missions.

"Alone? But what if-" Hanabi was cut off by a firm hand over her mouth.

"Keep watch. If the battle goes badly, get backup. Do not engage the intruder."

"I-I understand."

"Good."

With a slightly exaggerated show of confidence, Hinata slammed open the doors to the outside, palms glowing with malevolent chakra.

--

"Hey, there she went!" Shizune squinted as the afternoon sun glared into her eyes, watching a figure enter a small building surrounded by larger, more stately houses inside the manse. Without thinking, she continued to jump, trying to figure out whether the bamboo would support her wait, only three metres high, missing when another person strode out of the building, glowing with determination.

"Let's see… if I can get a good perch, then where would…"

"_Hakkeshou!_"

The first thing she felt was a massive push in mid-jump, forcing her into the rock wall that bordered the maze. Attaching her feet to the surface, Shizune pulled out a pair of senbon from within their holders up her sleeves, forgoing the poison for now. Killing members of the family would probably not be well received by the Hyuuga, but a little applied acupuncture...

"Hinata! It's me!"

"Who is it?!" Came the angry reply from behind the tattered cloud of debris that hid the Hyuuga heir, pieces of shredded bamboo still falling through the dust.

_Crap, I forgot, Hyuuga have problems actually telling who they're looking at with the Byakugan…_

"It's Shizune, girl! Stop it!"

"Imposter! I will not have you sully the good name of a medic!" Came the defiant reply, muted over the sudden sizzle of arced chakra circling through the air. The heiress' hands moved with discipline, forming the boundaries of her Protection trigram in anticipation of an attack.

"Dammit, girl! I'm the one and only Shizune!"

"Prove it!"

"Your crush is Naruto, but you dated Kiba for a few weeks before he felt a little off about the whole thing and you split up!" Shizune's voice was growing a little shrill from the tension, not to mention that she had no real defense against chakra spikes. Scalpels were one thing, but…

"Everyone knows this!"

_Except for Naruto._ Shizune snorted to herself in the privacy of her head, "Fine! I treated you for athletes foot a week ago, and you remarked about how insecure your sister made you when Naruto congratulated her on her first A-ranked mission!"

"Ah… isn't that…" Hinata's buzzing sphere dimmed as her concentration faltered, "… That's confidential information! Shizune-san, you're horrible!" She cried out, giving a quick glance behind her to pout at a smirking Hanabi.

_Phew._ Shizune breathed out a sigh of relief, at least she wouldn't have her internal organs shredded today, although having to file papers against a breach of trust wouldn't be fun either.

"Hinata?"

"Hai?" The heiress stuttered, giving the medic her attention once more.

"I've come here with an offer from the Hokage herself, or rather an order. A 'if she doesn't say yes, you have my permission to write out a restraint order concerning you-know-who and wave it in her face' kind of order."

Hinata sighed, and motioned for the Jounin to follow.

"What, _another_ one?"

--

_There was no mist in this forest. The black shade found it strange, not having the white cloud surrounding it. The trees were different, smaller, more wild than the lumbering giants back home, smelling of fossilized sap and morning dew. He could feel the tiny pulses from behind him, the taint of the sister, pursuing him. He had to move, to show her that the legacy was no longer in safe hands, then she would see it his way! _

_It crouched on the crook of a twisted branch, many metres high, looking over the green ocean of trees and trying to figure his position. He was tiring a little, but there were ways that could easily refuel the mind and body alike. A hint of movement within the swarming darkness and he was still for a minute, before leaping and moving from branch to branch again, continuing his journey._

_Behind him, the leaves on the tree he had rested upon turned brown, turning to dust even before they had separated from the now-dead tree. The air began to smell of rot and corrupted wood-bark, and it only grew worse as a white blur landed upon it fifteen minutes later._

_They were drawing closer, and there would be no warning._

* * *

_Righto! Now, there's a poll up on my profile, check it out. And remember to click the link at the bottom of my profile, it's a great spoof of popular animes and pretty damn fun in the bargain. Oh, and review too, that would be sweet. Feel free to question me!_


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